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The Movie:
I remember watching the 1988 Olympics and the media's complete
coverage of Eddie Edwards, the first ski jumper from Britain to
compete in the international sporting event in decades. He
came in dead last, by a lot, and I always thought that his
appearance was the equivalent of a prank… good harmless fun but not
meant to be taken seriously. It turns out there's a bit more
to the story (but, granted, not a lot more) which is related in the
biopic of the famous jumper Eddie the Eagle. As with many
Hollywood sports films based on true events, this is a fun but
lightweight movie that hits all of the numbers that one would
expect.
As a young child, Eddie Edwards (Taron Egerton) became fascinated
with the Olympics and dreamed of competing. The son of a
laborer in England, he did his best to follow his dreams, trying out
one sport and then the next until he saw someone skiing… that's when
his passion really bloomed.
He was a good down-hill skier, but when the head of the British
Olympic committee told him that he would never make the team he
changed to another, related sport: ski jumping. The UK
had not sent anyone to the Olympics in that category since 1929, and
so all he needed to do was learn to jump and compete in any
internationally sanctioned tournament. He didn't have to win,
or even place. But first he had to learn how to ski jump.
Without a sponsor or government support, Eddie makes his way to
Germany and the venue where the serious athletes train. There
he meets Bronson Peary (Hugh Jackman), the alcoholic who tends to
the slopes and ramps. Seeing that he is teased by the serious
ski jumpers and unable to make a landing on anything but the
smallest ski ramp, Bronson takes pity on the affable but incompetent
Eddie and agrees to teach him some of the basics. And Eddie
couldn't have a better teacher (Bronson refuses to let Eddie call
him "coach") because the town drunk used to be the wunderkind of the
US ski jump team until his cocky attitude caused him to be
cut. In Eddie, Bronson sees the drive and determination to
succeed that he never had, and also a chance to redeem himself.
This movie follows the pattern of Cool Runnings, another
movie about an underdog team wanting to compete in the 1988 Winter
Olympics. Both movies revolve around the trials and
tribulations that beset the first team/person to compete in an
Olympic event for their country, they both derive humor form the
low-budget training, the main characters in the two films are
largely shunned by the sports establishment, and both center around
coaches looking for redemption. Oh yeah, the coaches in the
two movies are both fictional characters too.
It's a safe bet if you enjoyed the movie about the first Jamaican
Olympic bobsled team, you'll enjoy this one too. This film is
light and breezy with just the right dramatic moments scattered
throughout its running time to keep the viewer's attention.
There's a good amount of humor that largely works, and in the end
you'll be pulling for the plucky Eddie the Eagle too.
The biggest flaw is that, as with many sports-underdog movies, this
one falls into the trap and making the plot points seem contrived
rather than real. A lot of that has to do with the fact that
they are made up rather than a strict retelling of history and that
comes through. Events unfold in a predictable way that pulls
viewers out of the film by thinking "did that really happen?"
Of course, the answer is usually "no, it's poetic license" which
almost seems like cheating. Still, it's a fun, family friendly
movie about an underdog who just doesn't know when to quit.
The Ultra HD Disc:
As with other 4K releases, this set presents the film on a Ultra HD
disc as well as on a Blu-ray.
Video:
The film arrives with the original 2.39:1 aspect ratio intact and
with a nice looking 2160p transfer (most likely from a 2K
master). The image looks very good, with lots of detail and a
nice warm feeling (ironically, since it deals with a winter sport)
to the skin tones. There is a bit of aliasing in a couple of scenes,
and I noticed some light banding also, but these were very minor and
most viewers (my wife for example) would not see them at all.
The only real disappointing thing is that when comparing the 4K disc
to the Blu-ray, there really wasn't much improvement in the
picture. Yes, the Ultra HD image did have better definition
but the difference wasn't like night and day.
Audio:
The 4K disc boasts a Dolby Atmos audio track (with a Dolby TrueHD
7.1 core) that sounds very good, but not too exciting. There
isn't really anything wrong with the soundtrack, it's just that the
subject matter doesn't lend itself to an impressive
soundstage. The jump scenes do a good job of placing the
audience in the middle of the action, sonically speaking, but the
rest of the film has a standard, albeit good, mix.
Extras:
There are no extras on the 4K Ultra HD disc, they're all found on
the Blu-ray, and pretty limited in any case. There's a
standard behind-the-scenes piece that runs a bit over 45-minutes
(and thankfully has not been broken up into a dozen 3-minute
segments), a trailer, and an image gallery.
Final Thoughts:
Eddie the Eagle is a fun and enjoyable film, even if it doesn't
follow the historical events too closely. It's definitely
worth checking out as long as your expectations aren't too
high. Recommended.
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